A Star Player's Journey to Discovery
by Erin Primette
Summary: After a Blitzball Tournament, Tidus finds a sphere from his father, whom he thought was dead for ten years. Hoping that he might be still alive, Tidus sets out on a journey to find his old man and bring him home safely. But along the way, he gets ambushed by the Ruin and has a close encounter with Sin.


This little one-shot takes place at the same time Yuna begins her training to become a summoner in Touched by Sin.

_{This is spoken in Sin's telepathy.}_

Final Fantasy X belongs to Square Enix, not me!

* * *

The Blitzball match was tonight, and Tidus knew he had to participate; especially if it earns him that paycheck to pay for the rent.

As Tidus emerged from his houseboat, he gazed at the bustling city that is New Zanarkand. After a moment, he hustled toward the dock, where his speedboat was parked. Just as he was about to mount it, he suddenly spotted a sphere floating in the water. Curious, he reached out and scooped it out of the water. He considered playing the footage, but then…

_"Oh, that's right,"_ thought Tidus, _"I still have that match tonight! Oh well, I guess I'll look into the sphere later."_

Tidus tucked away the sphere into his pocket and activated the speedboat with his key sphere. After that, he drove the speedboat towards the stadium.

When he arrived, he was greeted by several fans that were probably waiting for him. Tidus jumped off his speedboat after parking and sprinted towards the front gate of the stadium. Just then, a huge crowd of fans was standing in his way. Sure, he could've signed autographs if he wanted to, but now was not the time.

"Make way," ordered Tidus, "make way!"

Just as he started pushing through the crowd, Tidus found himself surrounded by fans, but he is not willing to give up that easily.

"Coming through," he continued, "sorry."

Tidus almost made it through the crowd when a group of teenage girls stepped in his way.

"Hey," protested Tidus, "I'm gonna be late!"

The group of teenage girls stepped aside as Tidus made a sprint towards the entrance to the stadium. He took a last glance at the fans and waved at them before entering the stadium.

Tidus soon joined up with his teammates in the locker room, and he noticed they were pretty nervous. Fortunately, they knew his confidence kept their spirits standing since he first joined the Zanarkand Abes around eight years ago.

After a matter of minutes, the Zanarkand Abes headed out into the stadium, where bustling crowds of fans were scampering about, trying to find their seats. On the other side of the stadium, Tidus gazed at the other team, the Duggles, who were also getting ready to enter the sphere pool just like the Abes were.

And then, the game began.

Well, it felt like a breeze, but Tidus could remember being grabbed from behind by one of the Duggles, although he managed to free himself as he passed the ball to one of his teammates. However, one of the Duggles managed to snag it. However, Tidus managed to tackle her out of the sphere pool, forcing her to let go of the ball in the process. A member of the Abes managed to intercept the ball and passed it to Tidus. He then shot the ball towards the Duggles' goal, and scored when the goalie missed.

After what seemed to be hours, the Zanarkand Abes won the match. Tidus took his teammates out to a buffet restaurant for dinner to celebrate. As they dug into the food that they gathered for themselves, Tidus smiled as he knew as long as he is with his teammates, he is not alone.

After the buffet dinner, Tidus headed for home on his speedboat. When he entered his houseboat, he pulled out the sphere he found before the match. Curious, he played the footage.

* * *

_Somewhere, in what appears to be a forest, a muscular man with black hair and a red bandana was sitting in the middle of what appears to be a spring. It seemed that this man was looking into the sphere._

_"Hey," he said, "this is me, Jecht. If you're sitting there watching this, then hear me out. Well, this message is for my son, Tidus. Son, I'm sorry I left you alone like that during that night. But then, I'm not sure if I'll be able to return home like I promised. However, there's a time when you have to stop crying and move on. You'll be just fine. Just remember, you are my son, and I love you. Well, I believe in you. Goodbye."_

* * *

Just then, the footage ended.

"Dad?" gasped Tidus.

Tidus remembered that day when his dad, Jecht, left New Zanarkand ten years ago. He remembered that Jecht promised to return soon, even when his mom protested at first. Well, Jecht and Tidus may not have gotten along well despite being father and son, but he remembered eagerly waiting for his father's return every day. However, as days turned to months, there was no sign of his father's return.

Then, after two years, his mom died of illness, which struck Tidus with not only grief, but also anger. As a result, Tidus no longer cared for his father anymore as he believed that he betrayed his promise. Tidus knew Jecht was supposed to be his father, but he hated him for disappearing like he did, and he even thought he would never see him again.

But then, he gazed at the sphere as if it was a glimmer of hope.

_"Could it be that my old man's alive?"_ thought Tidus.

Tears began welling up in his eyes as he clutched the sphere closer to his chest, realizing that all this time, he really missed his father. After a moment, Tidus wiped away his tears and tucked the sphere away in his pocket. Remembering what Jecht said in the sphere, he knew now was not the time to cry.

"Don't worry, dad," breathed Tidus, "I will find you."

Tidus began searching all over the house for supplies. He knew it was late at night, but he didn't care; maybe he can find a place to make camp later. After gathering enough supplies to last him a while, Tidus wrote a note and left it on the table before heading outside. He approached his speedboat and activated it with his key sphere, and then he drove the speedboat away from his houseboat and departed from New Zanarkand.

* * *

After what seemed to be hours of traveling the ocean, Tidus noticed strange black creatures with doll heads swimming underneath the water. He initially brushed it off at first, but after a short while, he saw a massive black creature littered with doll heads and doll limbs rise out of the ocean at a distance.

Tidus figured he might slip past the creature undetected, but then smaller black creatures with doll heads began leaping out of the water. He made a glance at the massive creature, and to his shock, the creature was swimming straight towards him.

"Damn it," muttered Tidus, "I **_knew_** I should've waited until morning!"

Just as the massive creature was about to lunge at Tidus, he quickly accelerated his speedboat and the creature missed. The next thing he knew, he was fleeing for his life.

Tidus struggled to stay ahead of the massive creature as it began to pursue him. He also noticed that the black creatures with doll heads were leaping out of the water and lunging at him as well.

"Shit," panicked Tidus, "shit, shit, shit, shit!"

Unfortunately, the creatures were catching up to him and soon, one of them knocked Tidus off of his speedboat and he fell into the water. The next thing he knew, another of these foul creatures grabbed onto his leg and attempted to drag him underwater. Tidus struggled to free himself, but then more of these creatures began grabbing onto his legs.

Then, just as it seemed that Tidus was losing, he heard a loud shriek coming from a distance before he felt a pulse of energy, which knocked the creatures off. Tidus seized the opportunity as he quickly swam back to the surface. Above water, he saw that the massive black creature shifted its gaze somewhere else. Moments later, two bizarre creatures appeared out of nowhere and attacked the creature. One of them, a serpent-like creature, managed to grab hold of the massive foul creature with its mouth as the other one, vaguely resembling a wise old wizard, cast some sort of spell that seemed to immobilize the creature.

Then, after hearing a roar that sounded like a whale combined with sirens and wind, Tidus gasped in awe when another creature that resembled some sort of whale emerged from the ocean. This creature generated an energy shield before launching an energy explosion at the massive black creature, which destroyed it. Just then, the other two creatures sighed in relief as they glanced at the whale-like creature.

_{Excellent work, my disciples,}_ he praised.

Tidus sighed in relief, but then realized that now his speedboat was wrecked, so he might have to start swimming. The next thing he knew, he noticed the creature resembling the wise old wizard was gazing at him.

"Hi there," said Tidus, "I liked your performance. It was awesome."

The creature didn't say anything. Instead, he grasped Tidus by the collar of his shirt and lifted him out of the water.

"Hey," shouted Tidus, "let me go!"

The creature ignored Tidus's protests as he approached the whale-like creature.

"Master Sin," he said, "I have found a stranded human."

_{Bring him here, Exodus,}_ ordered Sin, _{I will deal with him myself.}_

"Right away," nodded Exodus.

Exodus then summoned a magical platform before setting down Tidus, who quickly got back to his feet. He gazed at Exodus and the other creature in confusion before glancing at Sin.

_{What were you doing out in the ocean,}_ demanded Sin, _{and do you even realize it was dangerous?}_

"Well," explained Tidus, "I was just searching for someone very special to me."

_{And you chose to search for your loved one after dark?}_ interrogated Sin.

"All right, all right," groaned Tidus, "it was a stupid idea! Go ahead and sue me."

Sin shook his head in disbelief.

_{You were lucky I was passing by,}_ stated Sin, _{otherwise, the Ruin could've killed you.}_

"Wait," paused Tidus, "you mean those black creatures with the tiny ugly white faces?"

Sin nodded.

_{It is still not safe to wander these oceans alone,}_ insisted Sin, _{come with me.}_

Sin then reached out his fin toward Tidus. The next thing he knew, he found himself laying on top of Sin's back, sleep clouding his eyes.

* * *

Tidus slowly opened his eyes, only to realize that he is on some sort of ship. Curious, he got to his feet and wandered around the deck of the ship. Just then, he noticed a couple of people that were dressed in an odd manner. Just then, they both turned to glance at him.

"Ah," said the strange person, "Oui yna yfyga."

"What?" exclaimed Tidus, confused.

"Oui tuh'd nalukhewa yh Al Bhed frah oui caa uha?" asked the other strange person.

"I don't know what you're talking about," replied Tidus.

Just then, the door that led to a cabin opened up and out came a few more people; a blond girl in what appears to be a diving suit, a man wearing a red coat and a bald man wearing a jumpsuit. The bald man soon gazed at Tidus.

"Welcome aboard, pal," he said, "I am Cid, the leader of the Al Bhed."

"What's an Al Bhed?" asked Tidus.

"You've never heard of us?" paused Cid, "where did you come from?"

Tidus was about to blurt out his answer but he quickly paused.

_"Wait a minute,"_ thought Tidus, _"maybe I shouldn't tell these people about New Zanarkand."_

Tidus remembered that the Council of New Zanarkand forbade anyone from disclosing the city's location to the outside world.

"That's classified information," said Tidus.

"Oh," replied Cid, "all right then."

"Could you guys tell me what's going on?" asked Tidus.

The man in the red coat then approached Tidus.

"According to Cid," he explained, "the Al Bhed found you at the shore of their island, and they even said that you were brought here by Sin."

"You mean the giant creature with about fifty eyes or something?" clarified Tidus.

The man nodded.

"What brings you here?" he asked.

"My name's Tidus, and I'm searching for my dad," answered Tidus, "he used to be the star player of my Blitzball team until he disappeared ten years ago. Also, his name is Jecht."

The man's eyes widened with surprise.

"What?" queried Tidus, "did I say something funny?"

"You are the son of Jecht?" paused the man.

"You know my old man?" exclaimed Tidus.

The man nodded.

"I met him ten years ago," he explained.

"Then maybe **_you_** can help, right?" suggested Tidus, "hold on, I didn't get your name."

"You can call me Auron," replied the man.

"Ok then, Auron," continued Tidus, "I really miss my old man a lot. Could you help me find him?"

"Maybe at a later time," answered Auron, "but I accept your request. Until then, why don't you help out the Al Bhed for a while? I'll be heading out to Luca soon."

Tidus nodded in agreement as he turned to the girl.

"Nice to meet you," chirped the girl, "I'm Rikku. Maybe you can help us activate some ancient ruins underwater that we found some time ago?"

"Sure thing," replied Tidus, "it's better than nothing."

* * *

Al Bhed lines as translated:  
- "Ah, oui yna yfyga." - "Ah, you are awake."  
- "Oui tuh'd nalukhewa yh Al Bhed frah oui caa uha?" - "You don't recognize an Al Bhed when you see one?"


End file.
